Featured Titles

New titles - selected on the basis of good reviews. Nonfiction, fiction and mystery titles are included on these lists. Books for kids and teens (fiction and nonfiction) are also listed.

June 2008

Nonfiction

• The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars
  Author: Pham, Andrew X.
  Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 9780307381200 Date: 2008
  Booklist PW Kirkus
  From the award-winning author of Catfish and Mandala comes a son's searing memoir of his Vietnamese father's experiences over the course of three wars.
  Updated 5.29.08
  
• When You Are Engulfed in Flames
  Author: Sedaris, David
  Publisher: Little Brown $ 25.99 ISBN: 9780316143479 Date: 2008
  Kirkus PW
  In essay after essay, Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life to the most deeply resonant human truths. Culminating in a brilliant account of his venture to Tokyo in order to quit smoking, his sixth essay collection is a new masterpiece of comic writing.
  Updated 5.29.08
  
• The Monster of Florence
  Author: Preston, Douglas
  Publisher: Grand Central $ 25.99 ISBN: 9780446581196 Date: 2008
  PW
  In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), "New York Times"-bestselling author Preston presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding Florence, Italy.
  Updated 5.29.08
  

Fiction

• The Sugar Queen
  Author: Allen, Sarah Addison
  Publisher: Bantam $ 22 ISBN: 9780553805499 Date: 2008
  Booklist
  In this irresistible follow-up to her "New York Times"-bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Allen tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets--and secret passions--are about to change her life forever.
  Updated 4.24.08
  
• Midnight Never Come
  Author: Brennan, Marie
  Publisher: $ ISBN: 9780316020299 Date: 2008
  PW
  A breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England, Midnight Never Come seamlessly weaves together history and the fantastic to dazzling effect.
  Updated 5.12.08
  
• Blood Colony
  Author: Due, Tananarive
  Publisher: Pocket $ 25.95 ISBN: 9780743287357 Date: 2008
  PW
  There's a new drug on the street: Glow. Said to heal almost any illness, its main ingredient is blood--the blood of immortals. A small but powerful underground railroad of immortals is distributing the blood, slowly wiping out the AIDS epidemic.
  Updated 4.28.08
  
• Atmospheric Disturbances
  Author: Galchen, Rivka
  Publisher: FSG $ 23 ISBN: 9780374200114 Date: 2008
  PW Kirkus Booklist LJ
  At once a moving love story, a dark comedy, a psychological thriller, and a deeply disturbing portrait of a fracturing mind, this highly inventive debut explores the mysterious nature of human relationships.
  Updated 5.2.08
  
• Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities
  Author: Lennon, Tim and Christopher Golden
  Publisher: Spectra $ 12 ISBN: 9780553384697 Date: 2008
  LJ
  Two of today's brightest stars of dark fantasy combine their award-winning talents in this spellbinding new tale of magic, terror, and adventure that begins when a young woman slips through the space between the everyday world and the one hiding just beneath it.
  Updated 5.29.08
  
• Netherland
  Author: O'Neill, Joseph
  Publisher: Random $ 23.95 ISBN: 9780307377043 Date: 2008
  PW Kirkus
  The author of the "New York Times" Notable Book Blood-Dark Track delivers a mesmerizing novel about a man trying to make his way in an America of shattered hopes and values, and the unlikely occurrences that pull him back into an authentic, passionately engaged life.
  Updated 4.24.08
  
• Cost
  Author: Robinson, Roxana
  Publisher: FSG $ 25 ISBN: 9780374271879 Date: 2008
  LJ Booklist
  In this luminous and gripping new novel, Robinson tackles addiction and explores its effects on the bonds of family, dazzling readers with her hallmark subtlety and precision in evoking the emotional interiors of her characters.
  Updated 5.2.08
  
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
  Author: Wroblewksi, David
  Publisher: Ecco $ 25.95 ISBN: 9780061374227 Date: 2008
  PW LJ Kirkus
  This riveting saga of an American family captures the deep and ancient alliance between humans and dogs, and the power of fate through one boy's epic journey into the wild.
  Suggested Reading: All Stars| Dog Stars
  Updated 4.24.08
  

Crime Fiction

• Final Theory
  Author: Alpert, Mark
  Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24 ISBN: 9781416572879 Date: 2008
  Booklist
  An exciting new thriller--and science--writer presents this action-packed debut that seamlessly weaves issues of science, history, and politics with white-knuckle chases and a gun battle that crosses into the extra dimensions of space and time.
  Updated 5.2.08
  
• The Reapers
  Author: Connolly, John
  Publisher: Pocket $ 26ISBN: 9781416569527 Date: 2008
  Booklist
  Darkly brilliant and intuitive detective Charlie Parker returns in the newest thriller by "New York Times"-bestselling author Connolly.
  Updated 5.2.08
  
• The Master of the Delta
  Author: Cook, Thomas H.
  Publisher: Harcourt $ 24 ISBN: 9780151012541 Date: 2008
  Booklist PW
  While conducting a class on historical evil, Jack is shocked to discover that his unassuming student Eddie is the son of a notorious local murderer. When Eddie's investigation into his past leads him to Jack's own father, Jack finds himself questioning Eddie's motives--and his own.
  Updated 4.14.08
  
• Blackman's Coffin: Sam Blackman
  Author: De Castrique, Mark
  Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 9781590585177 Date: 2008
  LJ PW
  Sam Blackman is an angry man. A Chief Warrant Officer in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the U.S. military, he lost a leg in Iraq. His outspoken criticism of his medical treatment resulted in his transfer to the Veteran's Hospital in Asheville, NC. Then an ex-marine and fellow amputee named Tikima Robertson walks into his hospital room.
  Tikima hints that she has an opportunity for Sam to use his investigative skills--if he can stop feeling sorry for himself. But before she can return, Tikima is murdered, her body found floating in the river.
  Sam must delve into Asheville's rich history--the legacy of the Vanderbilts at the Biltmore estate and of author Thomas Wolfe--to uncover the murderous truth.
  Blackman's Coffin starts a new series by Mark de Castrique, author of the Buryin' Barry Mysteries. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 4.24.08
  
• Cezanne's Quarry
  Author: Pope, Barbara
  Publisher: Norton $ 25 ISBN: 9781933648835 Date: 2008
  LJ
  A young woman is found murdered ...and the clues to her death point to her spurned lover, Paul Cezanne.
  In this richly atmospheric novel, a mysterious young woman named Solange Vernet arrives in Aix-en-Provence with her lover, a Darwinian scholar named Charles Westbury, and a year later is found strangled in a quarry outside the city. The young and inexperienced magistrate, Bernard Martin, finds his investigation caught in the crossfires of a raging cultural debate Exploring questions of science and religion--and the role of women in these realms--that persist even today, Cezanne's Quarry is an impressive debut mystery about life, death, love, and art. - Publisher Marketing
  Updated 5.23.08